A deeper look

When I initially decided to intern at Henry Street, I was certain that everyday would be full of introspection and that every day, the kids I was working with would prove my hypotheses about theatre building strong communities to be true. In the first few weeks, I was not disappointed with my job, but I was disappointed with the outcome. I didn't feel necessarily like I was learning new things about the field of community theatre/education. Because I wasn't a close contributor to the cast's process in rehearsals, and because the cast is a rather large one, I didn't feel like I was seeing any personal growth in the kids or communal growth in the ensemble.

Last week, and especially today, I realized otherwise. In my opinion, the most important thing in the world (besides music...which I believe to be incredibly important) is community. I believe that having a strong community of like-minded individuals who really care about each other is not just a privelege; it's a right. And furthermore, it's a necessity. Human beings are meant to live and work and play and laugh and love and fight together. If you aren't fully surrounding yourself with other human beings and truly caring about them and letting them care about you, then you aren't fully living. Of course, that's only my opinion. And really, that's only how I want to live my life. I don't feel like it's necessary for me to force these opinions on anyone else, simply to surround myself with a good strong community and a lot of music, and hopefully, to make community an accessible reality for other people.

I believe that in the perfect circumstances, theatre has the ability to create such a strong community and network of individuals coming together because they really love something, because they really believe in something, because they have the desire to make something great, and because they know that flying solo in the theatre is difficult to do and practically a hypocritical statement. Of course, this isn't true of all theatre communities. But in the best ones that I've been a part of (community theatre organizations, summer stock, even plays being put on at summer camp), a bond is created; one that is durable and real and remarkably inclusive.

I hoped to see this sort of bond blossom and grow within the cast of A Chorus Line, and I wanted to be a part of it, in some way. I realized that these things take time. That in order for my hypothesis to work, the cast must first have joint experiences and start to connect through them. And then, last week I realized something even greater. The bond that they're making, that we're making, isn't just a social bond. It's about something much bigger for these kids. It's about creating something, building it from scratch, and making something that they can really be proud of. That they can take ownership over. And doing that together and not being alone, that is the first step to building a community.

Today, they had a full day rehearsal because they're on spring break. I haven't been there the past few days, as it's been Passover and I was with my family. Only the central 19...scratch that, they added one, 20...were called. The minute I walked into rehearsal, I was pounced upon by about 5 of the kids, a few of whom, I haven't really even spoken to that much. They all enveloped me in bear hugs and then leapt about, excitedly. They were all so hyper active and so happy to be at rehearsal and together, that it reminded me of what I feel like when I'm working on a show and the cast is really gelling and the show is starting to come together. It's this super duper high that rivals nothing else. YOu feel untouchable, yet not like you're in your own bubble. You feel untouchable, surrounded by other untouchables, yet all in the same bubble...wow I'm starting to lose coherence, better start wrapping it up. long day.

Anyways. A few cast members were missing, so I filled in for the female roles. Singing and everything. It was a lot of fun. And the show is starting to look great and sound great and the kids are getting excited and the ones who have stuck with it are committed to this and to nothing else but this. I played and bantered with them all today, for the first time, really. I've gotten to know a handful of them through one on two singing sessions with the director and I, or just through random encounters. But it seems like somehow I've made my mark, they've finally enveloped me and accepted me as one of the people that they can trust enough to be silly with and to sing in front of and even, to hug. Funny, all I did was dance with them sometimes, press play on the stereo, and observe their rehearsals. That's what I mean about the theatre community. Once you've established yourself as a believer, you're immediately taken into the fold, and there's less of a barrier despite racial differences or age differences, etc. People are just people. People who love theatre. People who want to be liked. People who want to play.

This is turning into quite the interesting journey, after all.

More on some of the latter themes later on. I'm falling asleep now.

XOXO,
The Great Believer.